What is it about Hitler?
So I consume quite a bit of Quora content, especially on these Covid-lonely nights. One of the things I ask myself at least once every two or three articles is, why are there so many posts about Hitler? Not only that, but why do so many of them emphasize his personal life and position his character and existence as the end-all-be-all of WWII and of Nazism?
The answer is obvious — we all love a bad guy. (Technically, I think I stole that quote from somewhere, but I’ll be damned if I recall where.) Also, anti-Semitism.
Now I’m no history buff, and I barely know what happened yesterday in my own living room, let alone nigh one-hundred years ago across the pond, but it sure seems like no one mentions all the other stuff going in Germany and the world that gave rise to a Hitler. It begs the question, if not Hitler, would someone else have risen to do what he did? And what of his cadre? They get almost no credit. Nor do the German citizens who sat idly by as their Germany turned into whatever the fuck that was (probably at gunpoint).
Make no mistake, I’ve never lived through fascism, or communism, or a dictatorship, as far as I’m aware, but something tells me that in those types of situations, the Hive Mind takes over and everyone else gets sucked into the abyss of what-the-fuckness. I would almost bet money Hitler himself was just as blindsided by what-the-fuckness as anyone else, and before he knew it, bam, he was a dictator. (And yes, you can totally steal what-the-fuckness, its not trademarked or anything.)
Anyway, from what I’ve read, had Hitler been accepted into the Vienna Art School, then the holocaust may never have happened. I mean, I’m as big a fan of the butterfly effect as the next nerd, but I dunno…I just can’t imagine Hitler was anything more than the face of a movement that was conceived prior to his existence. Countries have minds of their own, and, at least in my mind, a country’s mind overrides that of any individual in its ranks, even the head. Hence, his assassination.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, stop star-fucking Hitler and then blaming the arts, Quora! Sheesh!
